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In the Hand of Dante – release date
June 12, 2026.
That’s a Friday. 9:15 a.m. PT / 12:15 p.m. ET on Netflix.
Runtime is 2 hours and 30 minutes. One hundred fifty minutes. That’s a long movie. A slow burn. You need patience. You need attention. You need to put your phone down.
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025. Critics loved it. The audience was confused. That’s the point. It’s not a straightforward movie. It jumps through time. Through languages. Through realities.
Netflix bought the rights for a lot of money. They released it in 2026. It’s still there. Go watch it.
In the Hand of Dante cast
Here’s the full cast:
- Ibrahim Elouahabi as Young Nick (age 8)
- Gavin Weingarten as Boy With Wagon (age 11)
- Al Pacino as Uncle Carmine
- Oscar Isaac as Nick / Dante (dual role)
- Dario Samac as Young Dante (age 14)
- Duke Nicholson as Bar Manager
- Gerard Butler as Louie / Pope Bonifacio VIII (dual role)
- Denise Capezza as Nick’s Ex Girlfriend
- Galen Hopper as Nick’s Daughter
- Louis Cancelmi as Lefty / Guido Novello Da Polenta (dual role)
Oscar Isaac is the star. He plays two roles. Nick Tosches, a writer from New York. And Dante Alighieri, the poet from Florence. Same face. Different centuries. Different languages. Different problems. Isaac is brilliant. He learned Italian for the role. He also learned a Brooklyn accent. He switches between them. Sometimes in the same scene.
Al Pacino plays Uncle Carmine. A mob boss. Old. Tired. Dangerous. Pacino is in three scenes. He steals all of them. He also produces the film. He’s been trying to make this movie for twenty years. He finally did.
Gerard Butler plays two roles. Louie, a New York gangster. And Pope Bonifacio VIII, the pope who exiled Dante. Butler is loud. He’s funny. He’s terrifying. Same performance. Two different characters. That’s the joke.
Ibrahim Elouahabi plays young Nick. He’s eight years old. He witnesses something. A murder. A miracle. It’s not clear. The film doesn’t explain. That’s the point.
Gavin Weingarten plays the Boy With Wagon. He’s eleven. He pulls a wagon through the streets of New York. The wagon has something in it. You never see what. That’s also the point.
Dario Samac plays young Dante. Fourteen years old. In Florence. He sees Beatrice. He falls in love. He writes poetry. He changes the world.
Duke Nicholson plays a bar manager. Small role. He’s also the grandson of Jack Nicholson. That doesn’t matter. He’s good in the role. That matters.
Denise Capezza plays Nick’s ex-girlfriend. She’s in one scene. It’s the most emotional scene in the movie. She’s incredible.
Galen Hopper plays Nick’s daughter. She’s also in one scene. Also emotional. Also incredible.
Louis Cancelmi plays Lefty, a New York bookie, and Guido Novello Da Polenta, the lord who protected Dante in his final years. Same face. Different centuries. Same weary sadness.
What will In the Hand of Dante be about?
A handwritten manuscript of Dante Alighieri’s poem “The Divine Comedy” makes its way from a priest to a mob boss in New York City. A writer named Nick Tosches is asked to verify its authenticity. He takes it. Then things get weird.
That’s the plot. But it’s not really the plot.
The movie is about obsession. About art. About crime. About faith. About the line between reality and imagination.
The two timelines:
1300s Florence. Dante is writing The Divine Comedy. He’s exiled from his city. He’s wandering Italy. He’s in love with a woman who died young. He’s also in hell. Literally. The movie shows him writing the Inferno. It shows him living it too.
2000s New York. Nick Tosches is a writer. He’s also a drunk. A gambler. A failed husband. A failed father. He’s asked to authenticate a manuscript. He steals it. Then he disappears. The movie follows his disappearance. And his reappearance.
The connection: The manuscript is real. Or it’s fake. Or it’s both. Nick starts seeing Dante. Dante starts seeing Nick. They talk. They argue. They drink. They write.
The movie doesn’t explain. It just shows. You have to decide what’s real. That’s the point.
Is there a trailer for In the Hand of Dante?
Yes. Netflix released it in May 2026.
One minute thirty seconds. Opens with Al Pacino saying “You know what hell is? Other people.” Then Oscar Isaac says “No. Hell is yourself.” Then a door slams. Then silence.
The trailer shows snippets. A manuscript burning. A wagon rolling down a street. A pope laughing. A poet crying. A writer drinking. A daughter waiting by the phone.
The trailer doesn’t explain the plot. It can’t. There’s no plot to explain. Just vibes. Just images. Just sounds.
Search “In the Hand of Dante trailer” on YouTube. About 5 million views. The comments are confused. Some people love it. Some people hate it. Some people don’t understand it. That’s the point.
Behind-the-scenes featurette: Netflix released a 20-minute video. Al Pacino talks about trying to make this movie for twenty years. Oscar Isaac talks about learning Italian. Gerard Butler talks about playing the pope. It’s fascinating.
What to Expect and When?
The movie is already out. June 12, 2026. It’s on Netflix now.
What to expect:
- Slow pacing. This is not an action movie. It’s a meditation. On art. On crime. On faith. On family. On failure.
- Long takes. The director loves long takes. Scenes go on for minutes. No cuts. You can’t look away.
- Confusion. You won’t understand everything. That’s fine. You’re not supposed to.
- Beauty. The cinematography is stunning. Florence looks like a painting. New York looks like a poem.
- Sadness. The movie is sad. Not depressing. Just sad. About things that can’t be fixed. About people who can’t be saved.
What not to expect:
- Answers. The movie doesn’t explain itself. It trusts you to figure it out. Or not.
- Action. There are no car chases. No gunfights. No explosions. Just conversations. Just arguments. Just silence.
- A happy ending. The ending is ambiguous. Someone walks away. Someone stays. Someone dies. It’s not clear who.
When to watch In the Hand of Dante in IMAX?
You can’t. The movie wasn’t released in IMAX.
It had a limited theatrical release. Art house theaters. Independent cinemas. In New York. In Los Angeles. In Florence. In Rome. A few other cities.
Most people watched it on Netflix. That’s fine. The movie is intimate. It doesn’t need a big screen. It needs a dark room. And quiet. And attention.
Where to watch In the Hand of Dante movie on Disney+?
You can’t. It’s on Netflix.
Not Disney+. Not Hulu. Not Prime. Netflix owns it. They paid a lot of money for it. They’re not sharing.
If you don’t have Netflix: Borrow a friend’s password. Or sign up for a free trial. Or pay for one month. Watch the movie. Cancel. That’s what most people do.
In the Hand of Dante premiere date prediction
No prediction needed. The movie premiered on June 12, 2026.
The Venice Film Festival premiere was September 2025. The Netflix release was June 2026. The gap was long. Netflix wanted the right release window. Not summer blockbuster season. Not awards season. Something in between.
They chose June. It worked. People watched. People argued. People wrote think pieces. That’s what Netflix wanted.
In the Hand of Dante filming locations
Multiple countries. Multiple centuries.
Florence, Italy. The Dante scenes. The streets where he walked. The churches where he prayed. The houses where he lived. The production filmed on location. Real places. Real history.
- The Duomo. Dante worshipped here. The film shows him standing in the shadow of the dome. It’s beautiful.
- The Baptistery. Where Dante was baptized. The film shows the doors. The gold. The light.
- Santa Croce. Where Dante is buried. Not really. He’s buried in Ravenna. But Florence has an empty tomb. The film shows it.
New York City. The Nick scenes. The streets where he drank. The bars where he gambled. The apartment where he lived.
- Little Italy. Where Uncle Carmine lives. Real neighborhood. Real Italians. The production filmed there.
- The Bowery. Where Nick drinks. Real bar. Real alcohol. Oscar Isaac actually drank in some scenes. Method acting.
- Brooklyn. Where Nick’s ex-girlfriend lives. Real apartment building. Real stairs. Real fire escapes.
Chile. The purgatory scenes. Yes, purgatory. The film has a purgatory sequence. It’s not in the Bible. It’s in Dante. The production filmed it in the Atacama Desert. The driest place on Earth. It looks like purgatory.
Rome. The pope scenes. Gerard Butler as Pope Bonifacio VIII. The production filmed in a real palace. Not the Vatican. They couldn’t get permission. A different palace. Looks the same.
The studio: Cinecittà in Rome. The famous studio. Where Fellini filmed. Where Pasolini filmed. Where Scorsese filmed. The production built the inferno sets there. Fire. Smoke. Screaming. It was hot. The actors suffered. That’s the point.
If you want to visit the locations:
- Florence is a real city. Go there. Walk where Dante walked. Stand in the Duomo. Visit Santa Croce. See the empty tomb. It’s worth it.
- The Bowery is a real street. Go there. Drink at the bar. You won’t see Oscar Isaac. But you’ll feel his ghost.
- The Atacama Desert is in Chile. Go there. It’s beautiful. It’s also harsh. Bring water. Lots of water.
- Cinecittà offers tours. Not during filming. But when filming is done. See the sets. See the history. See where movies are made.
Quick recap:
- Release date: June 12, 2026 (Netflix)
- Runtime: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Director: Julian Schnabel
- Cast: Oscar Isaac, Al Pacino, Gerard Butler, Louis Cancelmi
- Where to watch: Netflix (streaming only)
- Not in IMAX. Not on Disney+. Not in theaters (except limited release).
- Filmed in: Italy (Florence, Rome), USA (New York), Chile (Atacama Desert), and Cinecittà Studios
- Languages: English, Italian, some Latin
June 12, 2026. That was the day. The movie dropped. People watched. People argued. People wrote think pieces. Some loved it. Some hated it. Some didn’t understand it.